John Cena has always been a gung-ho goodwill ambassador for WWE at large. During a period when WWE was trying to expand globally, Cena made a very public spectacle of learning Mandarin. While WWE never gained the foothold in China that the company had hoped, the various videos of Cena speaking Mandarin and praising Chinese products like Laoganma Chili Crisp made the “Doctor of Thuganomics” synonymous with a certain corporate-tinged fondness for Mainland China. 

Then, in 2021, John Cena was promoting “Fast and Furious 9,” which screened early in Taiwan. Cena mentioned in an interview with Taiwanese TV that Taiwan was “the first country to see Fast and Furious 9.”

While it might look innocuous, simply referring to Taiwan as a “country” put Cena in hot water with the Chinese government. China has become a major part of the release for Hollywood blockbusters, with Fast and Furious 9 as no exception. Most modern tentpole films cannot afford to lose an audience of billions like China, currently the second largest market for films in the world, and Cena immediately went into damage control mode. Cena took to the Chinese social media app, Weibo, to apologize to the country for his perceived gaffe.

“I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry for my mistake,” Cena said in the video. The comments ranged from vitriolic to understanding, painting a portrait of the broad spectrum of opinions among the Chinese people. Fast and Furious 9 released in China and ended up making a gross revenue of $216,935,282, the biggest audience for the film, even beating out the film’s $173,005,945 gross revenue in the United States.